Monday, August 7, 2017

I am sure you are like me and watched in amazement as Jordan
Spieth finished the British Open. Remarkable is the only word that comes to
mind as he found a way to make those critical putts. A week later, I watched
him make back to back 50 footers. How does he do it?

If you listen to his interviews he is very forthcoming about
some concepts he uses that could provide answers for all of us.

Build a posture and set up that
creates a one-way miss. One of the secrets to lower scores is to try
and have a swing or stroke that if you miss it is always in a consistent
direction. You hear Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo talk about this every weekend.
With this in mind, Jordan has said he could eliminate the left miss with his
set up. He did not say how specifically, but if you think about it, you can make
a pretty good guess. If your feet are parallel to the target line and you bend
straight forward from the hips with your left-hand lower than the right, you
will find that your shoulders align to the right of your feet. So, if his
stroke path is influenced by his shoulder alignment, it would tilt his stroke
path to the right. He has talked recently about not trying to be so perfect in
his stroke. I think he is allowing the shoulders to close naturally and using
this alignment to swing away from a pull. In addition, by tilting the path to
the right, the arc better matches the target line with his forward ball
position.

This diagram is intended to show Jordan’s set up. Notice the shoulders (red)
aligned slightly right of his toe line. In our stroke model, this would move
the stroke path (black). Even with this tilt the path matches target line
(grey) at the last second, making a miss right more likely than a miss left. It
is my opinion, eliminating the fear of a left miss keeps him from steering the
putter at impact, allows him to maintain the momentum in his stroke, and gives
him an improved feel for speed.

Read Mid and Long-Range Putts in 3 Sections. The second aspect
of Jordan’s strategy that I believe to be very important, is his concept of
reading a putt in thirds. He comments that it gives him a better sense of
speed. This strategy allows you to more easily see the putt in real time. For many
of us the idea of the ball losing momentum as we look at the break is foreign. As
he looks at each section, he can imagine the ball losing momentum and at the
last section he can feel the putt closer to real time. It also gives him a more
specific look at the putt. For example, the first third will never break as
much as the final third. When we experimented with this concept we found it
allows a player to take a linear approach to the first third of the putt and a
non-linear approach to the final third.

Regardless of my theory, when you can combine an enhanced feel
for distance, with a no fear release, you can build a very successful strategy
for making putts of all lengths.

About Me

Bruce Rearick, is the owner of Burnt Edges Consulting, offering a better understanding of the science and art of putting. He is considered an industry expert in putter design, fitting and the relationship of those parameters to the putting stroke. His clients include putter manufacturers as well as instructors, and players.

Find out more about Bruce's services at bruce@burntedgesconsulting .com